Members of an extreme right-wing group and a rival anti-fascist movement have brought chaos to the center of Liverpool, with Merseyside police forced to intervene in violent street skirmishes

The two groups collided after a far-right group that calls itself the North West Infidels (NWI) gathered in the city to “exercise our democratic rights to freedom of expression, speech, movement and assembly.”

He estimated that the North West Infidels numbered around 200 at Saturday’s event. Many of them were shouting slogans like “migrants not welcome,” as well as offensive statements about the Prophet Mohammed.

Nazi salutes were later witnessed as police kettled members of the right-wing faction near Liverpool Lime Street train station.

“Our officers acted quickly to deal with the situation, separate groups of protesters, and contain them in a single area to try minimize the disruption caused to members of the public and local businesses,” a spokesperson for Merseyside Police told the newspaper.

Police later confirmed that the majority of the protesters had been escorted onto trains out of Liverpool.

The North West Infidels have referred to immigration as the “ethnic cleansing” of Britain, posting anti-migrant messages on their Facebook page such as: “These rapefugees will be begging to go back home [by the] time we have finished with them.”